Design entrepreneur returns to Northumbria

Rob Law, who graduated with a First Class BA Honours Design for Industry degree in 2000, is the creator and director of Magmatic, a design company that creates travel products for children, including the popular ride-on suitcase, Trunki.

He visited the School of Design, now based in the award-winning City Campus East, to speak about the conception and journey of Trunki and to launch a design project with second year Design for Industry students.

The four-week project will see the students working with Rob on a design brief that investigates the problems of getting children to eat healthily on the move. The students will undertake research with two North East schools, Marden Bridge Middle School and Marine Park First School, to aid them in developing lunch box designs to meet the brief.

The Trunki brand, which was developed by Rob during his time at Northumbria’s award-winning School of Design, is synonymous with tots-eye-view design and innovation. The company has sold more than 350,000 Trunki suitcases in 40 countries. Awards from Nickleodeon, Practical Pre-School, The Baby Products Association and Design Week have helped turn Trunki into a ‘must-have’ travel accessory.

Rob said: “I’m delighted to be returning to the birth place of Trunki and my old university, Northumbria. It’s an honour to be invited to work on this project with some of the best design students in the country.

“The ‘lunch box’ project is of huge social importance and has real potential to have a positive impact on education. It requires fresh thinking and a lot of research, fertile ground for Northumbria’s students. I hope the students will be inspired not only by my Trunki story but by sharing with them our ‘imagineering’ process that helps us develop hot new products like our BoostApak.”

Rob Law will return to the School of Design for the final product launch, which takes place next month (February).

The BA (Hons) Design for Industry degree is aimed at students who want to become professional designers of mass-produced products, moving on to influential positions in the organisations that will shape the future. The four-year course includes work placements in industry.

Associate senior lecturer Steve Bailey said: “Since his graduation from Northumbria University, Rob has achieved great success due to his design talent, hard-work and determination. His visit to the School of Design and his support with this design project is of considerable value to our current crop of Design for Industry students.”

For more information about Trunki and the ‘lunch box’ project, visit www.trunki.co.uk/trunki-lunchbox